Boris Johnson in Ukraine security scare after train hit by Russian drone

Boris Johnson has been caught up in a security scare in Ukraine after a train behind the one he was travelling in was hit by a Russian drone, reports say.

The former UK prime minister was travelling on a night rail service from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv to Poland when there were drone strikes in the border region, German newspaper Der Spiegel has reported.

Around 5am local time on Sunday, the train with Mr Johnson on board stopped near the Polish border and there was believed to be an evacuation warning. The all-clear was then given as no further drones were detected.

It came after the passenger train behind his was reportedly hit by a drone less than two miles from the border. No casualties were reported.

Mr Johnson is reported to have been travelling on the same train as former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt, and one of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's closest advisers, Gunter Sautter, as well as European diplomats.

Mr Sautter had been in the Ukrainian capital, together with security advisers from the UK, France, and Italy, to discuss possible peace negotiations with Russia with the Ukrainian government, according to Der Spiegel.

The newspaper said the line between Kyiv and Warsaw had been attacked and a train was struck.

Ukraine's railway operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, said on Telegram: "It is entirely possible that the Russian drone's intended target was the diplomatic train, which departed the station earlier than scheduled after train timetables were adjusted in real time because ​of the constant threat of Russian strikes."

Mr Johnson condemned the attack as "random and senseless".

He said on X: "I don't know what warped logic drove Putin to blow up a stationary Ukrainian locomotive on the Polish border this morning.

"What we can say for sure is that this is the kind of random and senseless attack Ukrainians are enduring every day - even on civilian railways.

"So far Putin has been responsible for the deaths of 1,700 staff of Ukrzaliznytsia - Ukrainian Railways. They and their daily passengers are absolutely heroic."

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Mr Bildt posted a video of a train being evacuated after what appeared to be an explosion on X, and wrote: "This wasn't our train, but the one just minutes after us by the border crossing.

"It was evacuated as the Russian drone approached and no one was hurt. Very good safety system. Our train just had an evacuation warning but could proceed to Dorohusk. The Russian attacks against Ukraine are intensifying."

Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said that Russian strikes were hitting closer to NATO and EU member Poland.

"Putin's terror is literally knocking on the doors of the European Union and NATO," he said.

Polish foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said the Russian threat was already "inside the house".

Mr Sikorski accused Moscow of waging a "hybrid war" against European nations that went further than cyberattacks, disinformation and espionage to "arson incidents in Poland", "attempts to bring down airliners in Lithuania", and "an attempt to derail a moving train in Poland".

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Earlier on Sunday, a truck less than a mile from Ukraine's border with Poland was ‌also hit, with operations at the Dorohusk-Yahodyn crossing point being briefly stopped, said border guards.

Russia's defence ministry said it had targeted infrastructure facilitating military cargoes from Europe in western Ukraine.

With the front line largely static, both Moscow and Kyiv have intensified long-distance ‌strikes in recent weeks to try to shift momentum in the war.

(c) Sky News 2026: Boris Johnson in Ukraine security scare after train hit by Russian drone